Let's see Yeji ferry incident as a blessing - Minister

Deputy Transport Minister, Mrs. Joyce Bawa Mogtari has described the near-sinking of a ferry on the Volta Lake as a ‘blessing’, as it forewarned government of an impending disaster.

The Deputy Minister says even though the issue is unfortunate, it has revealed so many things the government ought to do so far as water transport is concerned.

But for the swift response from the Ghana Navy and residents, 50 passengers aboard a Yeji-bound ferry from Makango near Tamale would have perished.

The ferry, which is said to have been overloaded with cargo vehicles and other passenger cars, started sinking due to what was believed to be a leakage on the ferry yesterday.

Speaking about the issue on Onua FM’s afternoon show, Ghana Dadwene hosted by Bright Asempa on Thursday, the Deputy Minster said “it was a disaster in the making because the weather changed”.

Mrs Bawa Mogtari noted, “unfortunate as it is, it was a blessing because we have realized it was a fault and we are fixing the fault”.

She said “we thank God they were able to rescue the people but for now, we are going to introduce stricter measures to prevent such occurrences”.